Doctrine of Unity/Separation
February 5th, 2007
What is the truly Biblical (not “Christian” cultural) basis for unity among believers and what is the basis for separation from false teaching and apostasy.|
NT Passages Warning of & Describing False Teaching, False Prophets, & Apostasy (Abandoning Biblical Faith): |
NT Passages Calling Us to Examine the Scriptures, Testing, Examining & Checking Everything; Expose & Oppose Falsehood, & Hold Fast to the Truth, & Contend for the Faith | NT Passages Calling for Christians to Be Separate from False Teaching, False Prophets, Apostasy, & Immorality Among Those Who Call Themselves Bretheren & From Unequal Yokes with Unbelievers (But Not Meaning Isolation): | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2 Timothy 4:1-4 (NAU) I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. | 1Thessalonians 5:21-22 (NIV)Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. Jude 1:3 (NAU) Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. | 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NAU) But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Biblical Basis of Unity | The Biblical Basis of Unity (cont.) | Biblical Characteristics of Truth: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ephesians 4:1-6 Verse 1: live worthy of the calling
Same call for all believers, though each believer has been given a unique gifting (Ephesians 4:7) Verse 2:
These reflect the fruit of the Spirit
Verse 3:
Unity is the Spirit’s creation, and not ours.
We are to preserve, but not to try to create a unity.
Verses 4-6:
*Trinity |
I Corinthians 1:10Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. [NASB] Or in expanded translation… Now I am begging you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (my begging is) with the goal that you declare the one same thing, that there be no doctrinal divisions or differing opinions among you, that you may be mended, restored and made whole, perfectly one in your way of thinking and judgment. [per Eric Peterman, Tyndale Seminary Greek student] Though there is a trend among Christians to attempt to bring about unity through setting doctrine aside, that is not Biblical. Biblical unity comes under doctrinal unity, not unifying under varied doctrines.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. John 16:12-13 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17 [Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. 1 Corinthians 13:6 |
Truth is absolute and is the very character of our unchangeable God: Exodus 3:14,15, Hebrews 13:8 Truth is singular: John 8:32; it is stated as “the truth” over 160 times in Scripture, from Genesis to 3 John Truth has been given: 2 Timothy 3:16,17 Truth is knowable: John 8:32, 1 Timothy 4:3, 1 John 2:20,21, 2 John 1:1 Key Points: Service without genuine humility and obedience is human arrogance. It does not glorify God. It is not rewardable in eternity. The productive Spirit-led life of faith requires the regular intervention of God’s grace and provision for success. Love is the fruit of His Spirit. Unity at the expense of Biblical doctrine or morality is not Biblical unity, and is not loving. True spiritual unity occurs when we all agree with God about what is true. Love and truth are not in tension with one another, as though we must balance them out or compromise between one or the other. They are absolute, eternal characteristics of God Himself, and we are not told to choose between them. |
Entry Filed under: Ecclesiology, Separation
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